The Path of R's
by nyroc128
Summary: On hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

The Path of R's

Chapter 1: Untitled

He woke up, gasping and wheezing.

Everything was spinning. For a moment he thought that he was still in the metal bird, but then he saw the ground beneath his feet, the trees around him, the crashed metal bird next to him.

Why was he so cold?

He poked his head through the bushes. Maybe his owner was around.

There was a blinding flash and the click. He gasped, eyes searching for the source, and saw it: it was the cursed marmoset, the one with the trinkets on him!

The marmoset was laughing and holding a metal object that captured pictures. And he was sure that the picture was of him. Without his feathers.

Embarrassment was quickly replaced by rage, and in moments he was upon the marmoset. He smirked as he saw the desperate look on the marmoset's face as he saw that the tables were turning on him. Talons splayed out, he landed on the monkey.

"Take that, you, you-you-" he sputtered, sinking his talons into the marmoset and throwing it at the nearest tree.

He looked at the monkey. It was dead.

He suddenly felt very tired. Everything hurt. His life was gone. Another clean slate to start off with, only this one wasn't so clean. Indeed, it was dirtied with the stains of past deeds…

Nigel jumped onto the plane seat and collapsed.


	2. Remembering

Chapter 2: Remembering

The memory hit him like a weight; with the weight. It was the weight of guilt.

_No! NO!_ He had to forget it. Like how he tried to forget his Golden Days by occupying himself with the smuggling. Only he never did.

The memory played clearly in his mind.

His owner had been pushing at the door. The pretty birdies had been standing at the exit. He had been with his owner. The blur of colors. The two blue ones that didn't leave fast enough.

And then he had been there. He was on the slightly bigger one, which was the male. They called him Blu and the other one Jewel. Jewel had charged at him, and then he had knocked her back with his wing against the wall. Then the cage fell.

He even remembered what he had said. Something along the lines of, "Now we have two, pathetic, flightless birds."

Why did he say that? Why did he say what he said and did what he did? Was he even sane, now or then?

The memory continued.

Then there was a red container, an elastic band, and then he was shot through the door and out the windshield. Then he looked behind him to see the whirling blades of doom that came closer and closer…

Then the world was pain, and then the world was nothing.

He had to forget.

But he couldn't.

For now, he thought, let us be distracted with a little more frivolous: survival.


	3. Rethinking the Sides

Chapter 3: Rethinking the sides

First things first: whose side was he on?

He listed the possibilities: with his owner or with the pretty birdies.

He thought about siding with Marcel. He had certainly cared about him, right? There was the scratching and the petting and the feeding and the acceptance and the fun that was there.

But if he had truly cared about him, then why had his owner left him to die in the plane? Why hadn't he tried to save him?

Nigel thought about it for a while. There was all of the feeding and the praise, but there was little meaning behind that.

Marcel hadn't-and didn't- care about him. To him, Nigel was just a tool to get money. Nigel only did it because he thought he was getting revenge.

Then, of course, he had to regret that what he had done did not avenge his getting fired. All it left was torn families, eternal emotional wounds, hatred to the one who caused them, and maniacal laughter that rung in his head…

He had been insane. Of course, he was sane now, but back then he had been so irrational.

He went back to the first topic. His conclusion: Marcel didn't care about him, or even know if Nigel was alive or where he was. So Marcel was not an option.

That left the pretty birdies. Okay, they hated him. But the confrontation and the earnest, probable reformation was worth a shot.

For now, he thought, as he frowned at his featherless wings, he should at least wait until he looked less like a plucked chicken.


	4. Rejected by the Birds

Rejected by the Birds

Nigel trudged along the bare jungle floor, kicking at any plants that were in his way. He had waited a few weeks, but eventually he couldn't wait and left the plane crash site. He wasn't sure where to go, but he knew that all he had to do was listen for singing and look for bright colors.

It was that easy. It took about 2 hours, but he found them, and that was important.

The singing was dreadfully cheerful. Singing about Rio's beauty, about music and colors and dancing. It was horrible.

He had no idea how to present himself. He just walked into the trees and bushes, amidst all of the swinging on vines and flapping and singing and feathers and colors.

And then he saw them, the two blue ones, Blu and Jewel, laughing and smiling ever so happily in their hollow. Somehow he locked eyes with them, and the smiles disappeared and the bright, shining eyes lost their luster and the beak when from laugh to scowl. The atmosphere changed drastically. The music and singing died down and everyone was staring at him with either surprise or disdain.

Jewel broke the silence, and with a voice dripping with acid, snarled, "What are _you_ doing here?"

The way she said it made it seem like she was referring to some kind of vile, poisonous monster. And in a way, he was one. But he didn't want to admit it. Somehow he knew it was true, but he didn't want to admit it…

"I-I want-"

"Oh, shut up, no one wants you to have what _you_ want. You wanted revenge for being fired, no one wanted that. You wanted to smuggle our kind? _No one_ wanted that, either." She looked down on him with a look of disgust on her face. Every word was a punch in the gut, a knife in the heart, a slap to the face.

"Please! Listen! I want to-to change. Give me a chance, please." Nigel pleaded desperately.

"Oh really?" Jewel gave him a cold look. "How do we know we can trust you? How can we forgive you for what you have done to us?" The other birds murmured in agreement.

"How can we forgive the smuggling and the fear and pain you caused all of us?" Jewel continued. "How can I forgive you for this?" She waved her left wing, and Nigel saw that it was the slightest bit crooked.

"It's only a bit crooked," he muttered.

"Not what it is _now, _what it was _then_," she snapped. "That just shows how ignorant you can be."

Nigel looked about for even a small amount of sympathy. "Blu?"

The Spix's macaw looked at him with hatred similar to Jewel's.

"Nico? Pedro?"

The two small birds frowned and shook their heads.

"Rafael?"

The toucan avoided eye contact and stared at his feet. Then he looked at Nigel and shook his head. Rafael's children looked from behind him.

He was not welcome. He had been rejected.

Hanging his head, Nigel walked away from the birds. He felt too numb to cry or feel angry.


End file.
